WIP: Tamiya 1/72 F4U-1D Corsair

Here's the little bit of work I've done so far:

Some general cutting and cleaning of various parts and some test fitting:

Completed the PE seat and mounting bracket:

Cut the original mounting tabs from the rear cockpit bulkhead and glued on the PE seat bracket. I then added a piece of Evergreen rod to the top of the bracket to create the top brace which the seatbelt goes over and then mounts to the rear of the seat. This and the seat were primed with MM flat black.

I opted to spray these while testing out my new "toy" that I received for my birthday:

It'sa very nice!

Joe, I normally don't pay too much attention to 1/72 scale builds (All my aircraft are 1/48) but the F4U is my favorite aircraft of all time. I'll be following along with interest.

The Badger Patriot is my favorite airbrush. I'm sure you'll appreciate it.

Mike

 P.S. I should mention that my father was an instructor/mechanic/pilot at Pensicola as well. Except he was there in 1917/18 during WWI. He flew and worked on JN-4's.

Fancy new toy you got there. Hows the ergonomics?  I noticed the hose attachment is quite close to the body.

You set yourself up really well for this build, I love those AM parts.  I really enjoy working with PE.  Everything looks great!  I'll be looking forward to this WIP.

Toshi

Mike: I'm really glad you are going to follow along. I also enjoy building in 1/48. I build in 1/72 not only because I enjoy it but, also from an observation from my wife who suggested, "Why don't you build the little ones first while you can still see them and then build the bigger ones later". She is indeed the possesser of much wisdom (and power).

The Badger Patriot has also been my standard airbrush. I am very fond of it. The Extreme features some new ergonomics, a finer needle and the airflow adjustment needle under the color cup. It's very nice and will get plenty of use but, my standard 105 will still be my general purpose go to.

Very interesting concerning your father being at Pensacola during WW I. Did he share much of his experience there with you?

Allan: The new ergos seem rather nice. The interesting change is the longer/higher trigger. A bit different at first but, I notice the difference in that my hand doesn't get as tired or crampy.

Toshi: I am extremely thrilled to have you following along. I figured that advertising a Corsair would draw you out rather quickly. I hope you will be patient as I do not build at the lightning rate that you do. Can't say as I really "enjoy" working with PE but, the results are definitely worth it.

Lookin' really good so far Joe! Man that airbrush looks "Bad A" man. Really nice!

Good start Joe! I'm currently decaling this guys big brother in 1/48 scale and have loved it. Really looking forward to seeing this one come together, you always do a great job!

Joe: It is indeed good to have you checking in my good friend. Always nice to have your encouragement and feedback.

Andy: Thank You for the kind praise. Don't hesitate at all to post some pics of your Corsair here. I always love to see what other Corsair builders are up to. Just might give me some choice ideas.

I'm glad you decided to do this W.I.P. and i will enjoy every step of the way Joe. I too am a VERY slow builder so I can relate.  

i also have the Badger patriot and the thing is a well engineered machine, and so easy to clean i even use it on small parts.

Funny how you decided to down size to 1/72.  I'm thinking of up sizing to a 1/32 Corsair and am saving up for one now.

I am constantly amazed at how some builders can put together such small kits. And here you go doing super detail PE work to boot. Crazy stuff. Very nice work and the coolest bird ever built.

BK

I didn't know Tamiya made a 1:48 Corsair, and I'm looking foward to watching you build it, Joe. I too have a 1:32 Birdcage on the shelf for someday.

Cool a/b, buddy. And your first WIP, wow.

Jay Jay: Thank You for the support. It is greatly appreciated. 

Jay Jay

Funny how you decided to down size to 1/72.  I'm thinking of up sizing to a 1/32 Corsair and am saving up for one now.

Yeah, that and the fact that I have limited display space may also be playing a large role in my decision. Oh, I WILL be to having me one of those choice Tamiya 1/32 Corsairs. Way too nice to resist.

Brandon: Very nice having you drop in. Thank You. There is definiely a reward for building in 1/72. When I'm showing friends and family my builds I reel them in with the 1/48 stuff and get a "Wow, That's cool". But then I hit 'em with the dinky stuff and that's when I get the "WHOA!!! How in the heck did you do that. That's awesome!" I love it.

Greg: Man, am I ever thrilled to have you stop and have a peek. Thank You so much. Yup, first ever WIP. Kinda cool, huh? Oh yes, Tamiya 1/48 Corsairs are definitely the cream of the crop. Beautiful kits.

I was speaking of your kit, Joe, and meant 1/72. 1/48 was a mistype.

Doesn't matter, who doesn't like a Corsair in any scale, right?

Joe,

You said:

"Very interesting concerning your father being at Pensacola during WW I. Did he share much of his experience there with you?"

He shared very little with my brother and me. He did tell us he landed in a tree one time which obviously turned out OK since both my brother and I are living testiments to that fact.

This photo was taken in 1915. I don't think pop was in the air corps before 1917 but I get a chuckle when I look at it. He was born March 15, 1896. I'm the eldest of his two sons and was born January 30, 1943 so he obviously put off having kids for a while.

http://www.airminded.net/jenny/treejn4_cstrm_1915.jpg

Thank you for sharing Mike. What a great story. Sweet photo too. 

My father had many great stories of his exploits as a naval aviator. He loved to to tell them. We had planned to sit down and record his Naval history and then submit them to the National Archives for history and posterity. Unfortunately he passed before we had the opportunity. Still eats at my craw to this day.

Thank You very much Joe. You are certainly one of the biggest influences on me for doing an individual WIP. I appreciate the inspiration and encouragement to open up to the modeling community at large.

Looking good Joe. The Eduard set will dress up your project. I love the Badger ABs. You can't beat their reliabilty, performance or value.

I was not much into 1/72 scales but some kits pack as much detail as the larger scaled ones so I have been picking up one or two once in a while.  I'm sure it is as good as their 1/48 Corsair.

Hey PJ, I appreciate you taking the time to drop in with the kind encouragement. 

There's no doubt that manufacturers are turning out some wonderful stuff in 1/72. Including the AM stuff available. I just recently finished Eduard's F6F-3 Hellcat Profipack and that is one stunning kit. Seems to be some really fine stuff coming from Airfix now that I'm excited about. In fact I just received their 1/72 A-4 Skyhawk in the mail and out of the box it looks great.

I certainly agree with you concerning Badger AB's. You described them perfectly. I'm also very impressed with their customer service. Awhile back I scored a siphon feed Badger off ebay for like $10.00. It needed some TLC, like a new teflon bearing. I sent it into Badger for refurbishing and they did it for simply the cost of parts and S&H. Cost me about $12.00. Brush works great although, I don't much use it anymore.

Joe, per your permission here are a couple pics of the 1/48 Tamiya that I just finished...

Added some wire to the engine...

Looking forward to seeing yours...I know it'll blow mine away

Absolutely you have my permission Andy. Thank you for sharing your wonderful Corsair. It looks great to me. I really enjoy seeing what others have done building any Corsair and I encourage others to share their Corsairs on my thread. I'm currently leaning towards the same scheme as yours but, have yet to fully commit yet.

I especially encourage any discussion and experiences with any and all Corsair kits. I have several Corsair kits in my stash and I'm always looking to learn about how different kits compare and how other modelers appraoched their work on them.

As an update the build progresses slowly but surely. Most of the paint is on the cockpit and I'm currently in the process of adding the Eduard PE parts. I'll have some pics here soon. The weekend before last I had the wonderful opportunity to drive a 100 miles and join the members of the Grand Junction, Co. Modeler's Society for a build day. I took the Corsair over and worked on cleaning up the landing gear parts. Great group of gentlemen and had an awesome day of modeling with them.

As I'm sure you know the Tamiya went together beautifully. Only problem I had was some major silvering of the decals. I put down a nice layer of future under and Micro Sol over the decals but still got it. I'm sure most of it is user error but just something to watch out for.

I'd noticed the silvering in your photos. That is indeed a bummer. Yet, I'm not so sure that you are at fault as Tamiya decals are notoriously lacking in quality. I've had my owm issues with their decals either tearing very easily or not setting with Solvaset. It does baffle me that with the excellent quality of Tamiya's engineering and detail that they would make an effort to improve their decals. Or maybe they have on some of their newer kits. I've not heard either way.

What happens between all those "finally got the ..... completed" posts? Well, for me, it's a shotgun effect of partially worked on pieces in various stages. Not to mention the hodge podge of PE parts cut out and awaiting installation. Rather than tackle more than one kit at a time I utilize the method of working on different sections of model at a time. this helps me to ensure that I complete a kit prior to moving on to the next. I guess this is some self training for when I finally get around to building a ship model and work on different sub structures at a time. 

Since I took this photo I have sprayed the MM zinc chromet green onto the gear bays. I'll be to attaching some of the cockpit PE parts and some detail painting later today.

Lookin' great there Joe!! Looks like you've been working on just a little bit of everything.

Great job in organizing yourself like this!  Did you spray everything with your new AB?  I have several questions;

How do you like your new AB?

What did you use prior?

In a comparison, which do you prefer and why?

Why did you choose this new brush?

Would you purchase a different brand of AB like, Chandler & Thayer, Iwata, Harder & Steinbeck, Sparmax, etc.?  

Thank you in advance!

Toshi 

Joe: Thanks. It's headway nonetheless.

Toshi: Thank You. Well, it's more along the lines of organized chaos. It's all a matter of "what can I work on with just a few minutes on my hands?" or just working on something while paint or glue dries.

  As for the new airbrush, yes, I like it quite a bit. It's funny you should ask. I buoght it more on a whim than anything else. My standard airbrush that I use is the Badger 105 Patriot. And I love it. So, when I saw the new 105 Extreme with some of it's ergonomic upgrades I thought that maybe it might indeed be a bit more comfortable to use and cause less strain on my hand. Not to mention I'm a bonafide gadget addict. Anyway, what I did not catch in any of the advertisments or reviewswas that the Extreme has a smaller needle than the standard 105. Thus, it's mainly for finer lines and detail work. Not a big deal other than I already own a Badger Renegade with an even finer needle yet. So, after a little test spraying and practicing I did indeed paint some of the cockpit areas with it. It took a bit longer to get the coverage I'm used to as it puts out less paint. It worked nicely. But, when I'm after some quick decent coverage the standard 105 is still the go to brush. I've only used Badger airbrushes. I simply like their quality, reliability, ease of cleaning and their customer service is excellent. I would not be opposed to trying another brand but, the Badgers are definitely what I'm happy and comfortable with. In a nutshell, I really love the standard 105 Patriot. I'm actually able to just about everything with it with the proper PSI's and paint thinning. About the only thing I'm not able to do is pencil thin lines and getting in close in tight spots. I hope this answers your questions Toshi.

JOE RIX my friend, yes you've answered my questions.  I want to thank you for enlightening me in regards to the Badger 105.  Currently I use a NEO CN and a TRN1 Iwata airbrush.  Both are gravity fed.  The needles and nozzles are both 0.35.  I'm able to get pencil like lines and also get a wide coverage area.  It's an all in one, like you being dedicated as a Badger fan, I'm a rabid fan of everything Iwata.  

When I first started, I've got to try a Paasche, Badger, and Iwata.  I just fell in love with Iwatas ergonomics and durability.  Since I started building kits approximately one year ago, I've quite possibly utilized the NEO CN every single day.  Only recently I've had to replace my nozzle and needle due to me being a novice.

JOE RIX, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule and answering my questions.  This means so much to me!

Toshi

P.S.  I too have issues with my hands due to fatigue and arthritis, hence I purchased the TRN1.  It's a gravity fed pistol grip AB.  I can work for hours with the Iwata TRN1 without any issues what so ever and I highly recommend any pistol grip AB.